The main protector of Japan, the Guardian of Time - that's me - Haya Kazemaru. After previous events, I had hoped to lead a normal, football filled life, but things don't always turn out the way you hope.

None of us knew about our real reason for being here; didn't know we had a different role to play.

It was during Raimon's football team farewell ceremony, when we were saying goodbye to temporary members who joined to fight Aliea Gakuen, that we all gathered for a team photo. Whilst Coach was figuring out how to fit everyone into the picture, and pressing numerous buttons, the general buzz inadvertently fell silent. A blinding, bedazzling bright light engulfed the whole of the pitch... And I awoke in a bright, white room.

I sat up and looked around – all I could see was white, as far as the eye could see. My eyes glazed over with fear, and with baited breath I shakily stood up - I must not show any weakness. I hummed Raimon's song – Maji de Kansha (which means Super Thankful) - to try and calm myself down, but it was hard to comfort myself in such a strange environment; it was similar to that of a foggy spring morning. What little light there was glinted off something, and I immediately walked towards a glass staircase, which I could barely make out through the thick mist. As I approached the stairs, there were outlines appearing, outlines of people - people! My pace increased as I headed towards them, and I shouted Ichirouta and Fubuki, to see if anyone would recognise the names or reply.

"Haya?"

A hand reached out to me.

"Yes?" I grabbed the hand.

"Oh thank God!" they cried, pulling me close. I clung on. One person I trust, one person I need, just to keep myself sane, my brother, Ichirouta.

"Where are we? It really doesn't feel like somewhere in Japan, even after all we've seen."

"I don't know," he replied, "don't laugh, but it really doesn't feel like anywhere on Earth."

At any other time, it would have sounded so stupid, yet right then it felt so true. What if he was right? What if it wasn't anywhere on Earth, and we were somewhere else? What if...

My colliding 'what ifs' were interrupted by a flurry of quick, loud bangs, increasing in frequency, on what sounded like a wooden door. We turned on our heels, and, to our luck, there was a door; where it appeared from is a different matter. We ran over to the door, examining it thoroughly yet quickly, trying to figure out how to open it. There were no locks, handles, gaps or cracks, just pure, perfect wood, which looked almost impossible to break through.

"Hello?" Came a muffled cry from beyond the door, "Hello?"

"We don't know who you are, but we'll get this door open! Don't worry!" Ichirouta shouted. He was trying to radiate positivity like Endou, but there was a streak of panic in his voice.

After countless minutes, we resorted to our last resort - barging the door down with hissatus. We alternately used techniques against the door, using everything we had, but we realised it wouldn't work. In an act of desperation, we made multiple attempts of joint attacks, but after each attempt we ended up in a heap on the floor. My leg was throbbing, my head was banging, and my entire body was hot, tired, sweaty and bruised, and mentally I was on the brink of collapse. There was someone on the other side of this door that needed help, and we are the only ones who can at least offer support.

"Are you mad?" my brother exclaimed, "You're going to injure yourself, it's no use."

Panting with laughing undertones, I said, "Even if I am, which is probably the case, they need our help, and I'm willing to risk tissue or bone damage for that."

With that, he too got up, and after a fair few attempts, the door bore a deep dent, and one fatal blow later, the door simply faded away. Running cautiously through the doorway, we stumbled upon something curled up on the floor. A boy. He was in thick winter clothing, with a spiky silken bundle of silvery lilac hair, and skin like milk.

"Fubuki!" I cried, relieved, "You'll be OK now, I promise."

I received no response, so I rolled him over hesitantly, and he covered his face with his hands. I tried, and tried again, to move them away, but he held them firmly in place. Gently reaching under his hand, his grip softened, and I signalled for Ichirouta to move Fubuki's hands.

"Oh dear God," Ichirouta gasped, "look."

I peered at his face, and behind his hands were a mash of red tones on his face. When we were transported here, anything we were carrying came too. Realising this, I frantically scuffled around in my bag, and after a few minutes of searching, I found some wipes, tissues and a couple of plasters. I gently cleansed the wound just above his eye as best as I possibly could, but he winced and cried in pain. Although mainly grazing, there was quite a deep gash which was producing a thick yet large amount of blood to settle on his face. Even if it needed stitches, I told myself that it would heal fine without and to cover it up was the best option.

"I'm sorry about that, it had to be done, but... What happened?" I whispered as I sat him up. "Who did this to you?"

"I don't know," he sniffled, looking down at his hands, "I really don't. I got here, in this room, walked towards the door, and I just; I don't know, blacked out."

He sat up and lent on my shoulder, but would not look away from his hands, refusing any eye contact. Seeing one of my best friends in so much pain urged me to be frustrated, but only sadness was present, however there was no room for that; I had to be strong. I moved his head from my shoulder and embraced him in a hug, and the dam of willpower was broken through by the river of my eyes. He had done nothing to deserve this in his life. Ichirouta had been sat, observing, before he crawled over and joined the hug. Three teenagers all alone in a strange, unsafe, unknown place, far away from home.

We must have fallen asleep like that, because the next thing I remember was being startled by the sound of shouting, and it wasn't stranger's voices either; it was somebody I knew.

"Will you just listen to me for a second, please?"

"But... I'm so hungry."

"Do you really think that considering the obvious issue, that is the most important thing on my mind?"

That did not suffice a reply.

I opened my eyes to just a squint, in-case it was better for me to be 'asleep', before trying to survey the other visitors. I recognised the voices so well, but my memory and general mental state had deteriorated since arriving. The two unexpected visitors proceeded to stroll around, taking their time, and we were unnoticed, until Ichirouta stirred and yawned loudly, rather like a dog.

They smiled, "I couldn't have asked for better people to be stuck in an angelic prison with.'

"Gouenji, Endou-kun!" I was as ecstatic as I possibly could be at that given moment. Two more people on our side would seriously help if we were to run into any trouble, and who better than a star-striker and an amazing keeper. Fubuki was still sound asleep, even though our wild chatter rang through the room. Our conversation mainly revolved around our purpose for being here, what we could have done, and what we expected to happen, before we were rudely interrupted by Gouenji's stomach.

"It's not just me that's dying of hunger." Endou chimed, before we all gave him a sympathetic smile; after all, he was just trying to lighten the mood. I delved into my bag and retrieved a cereal bar that I threw at Endou as he lay on the floor.

"I don't know how old that is, but it's food - don't blame me if you get sick," I laughed as his face lit up, "one small mention of food and-"

I was abruptly interrupted by an almighty crash, closely followed by an irritated cry of 'well that worked'. Although the noise's direction was unclear, we attempted to navigate our way towards it - with little success. We had carefully inspected every inch of the room, but there was no opening or door to be found. However we did find a rather long corridor, which we followed until we could go no further, and near the end we discovered a shirt - Zeus' number 10 shirt, to be exact. It took us all of half second to realise that someone else was here, but that someone might not be an asset.

"But where is he," I muttered, "I hope he's OK."

"Whatever he's here for, it can't be good. We'll have to avoid him," Endou replied, "I'm sorry Haya, but I can't trust him."

He had been one of my closest friends ever since I had to move to from Zeus to Raimon. I had to leave Teikoku after they found out I had dressed as a boy, and in a match against them, I drank the God's Elixir but couldn't bring myself to injure Kidou, who was also a close friend. He allowed me to escape the match unharmed and told me to go to Raimon, where I would be safe from Kageyama. I picked up the shirt; I couldn't not, and grasped it tightly. After he saved my life, the least I could do was find him.

"He's around here somewhere, and I'm going to find him, with or without the rest of you."

"Are you crazy?" Fubuki burst out, "Who knows what will happen to you?"

"I... I don't care."

Something changed. Bones tingling, eyes burning, heart pounding, I left myself behind and moved forward. Power. Power surged through me, and sensibility left me.

"Like a maze," Endou pondered - I had missed his trail of thought, "What if the doors disappear when you've gone through them?"

"It's more likely to be that we're looking in the wrong place. After all, we have no clue how big this place really is." Gouenji concluded.

An almighty rumbling made me turn around in curiosity - Endou's stomach? It happened again, and the source of the noise confused me greatly. There it was again. What was that noise?

"Face it, we're lost. In the middle of somewhere." A familiar voice spoke.

"That sounded like -" Fubuki started but was interrupted by somebody running.

We were all looking around for a sign of any sort - anything at all - before I saw it. People. Silhouettes. One had long, flowing hair to their waist, with the other's hair in a braided ponytail, surrounded by a cloak draped over their shoulders. As they approached, their faces became clearer, their faces increasingly relaxed, the colour of their eyes, their -

"Kidou!" Endou wailed, dragging out the '-ou' sound as long as his lungs could handle, as if it was someone he hadn't seen in years, but in fact saw only the day before. He squeezed Kidou tightly, who looked uncomfortable but pleased with the hug. We had all crowded around him, but the other person had seemingly vanished in this time. There was a sudden tap on my shoulder, and I spun around to be embraced by Afuro.

"Hello to you to, stranger," he smirked, "A friendly face at last."

"Haya! What are you doing?" Kidou barked, "What are you doing?"

"You guys know he was my best friend, and he has every right to have as much respect as you do."

They stood and glared at him still, whilst he broke into a friendly smile.

"You don't have to trust me," Aphrodi sighed, "but if you trust Haya, you should surely be content with me."

There was a moment of silence as the others thought whether to accept this 'peace' offering.

"I'm fine with it," Ichirouta announced, walking up to us, "a friend of my sister's is a friend of mine."

In the one match he played at Raimon, he still wasn't fully himself, but as he spoke just then, I could tell that it was him, and only him, that was in control of his mind. His eyes told me he was sorry, and my smile said it was fine.

We walked off in hope of finding somewhere, but the endless white hallways accompanied by marble and glass floors hurt my eyes after a while. I spoke to Kidou about general things, with Fubuki linked on my left arm and Aphrodi on my right - Kidou walked in front of me with Endou and my brother.

It felt nice to have some of my dearest friends with me, being true to themselves. They were not hiding behind another identity, or hypnotised by another's point of view. Maybe this place was a good thing for us, teaching us about ourselves, by throwing us out of our comfort zones.

We'd been walking for just under an hour, along, and up, hoping to find somewhere.

A pale, bluish glow emitted from a room. We headed towards it, and doors began to open, so we stepped into the unknown.

'I don't like this,' Ichirouta shivered, 'We don't know what's behind those doors.'

'We'll never know, though, unless we go through them.' spoke Gouenji firmly.

There was a voice, and not one any of us recognised. It came from behind the doors.

'Endou, what are you doing?' Kidou shouted, 'Don't go in there!'

I walked up to Endou and jgrabbed his arm. I wanted to know what was behind there, and if it was bad, I'd face it with Endou, together. We could do anything when we were together - we stopped one of Genesis' shots in our first match against them, me behind him, focusing my power into my hands from my feet. I was not worried if I was with any one of my friends, because we could rely on each other to survive and stick it out.

'Let's do this,' Endou smiled, 'Doesn't matter what's on the other side.'

I nodded and suppressed my fear, and put on a brave face. Ichirouta, Aphrodi, Kidou, Fubuki and Gouenji looked worried, but Fubuki walked up to my side and stood there.

'I'll do it. I've nothing to lose.'

His face is looked slightly better; the wound looked like it had stopped bleeding. He linked arms with me, and my cheeks became hot. Nobody knew that I liked Fubuki, as a best friend, but maybe more than that, I didn't know and I still don't now. Although I think Ichirouta knows, after all, we can read each other like a book.

'If my best friend and sister are going,' Ichirouta smiled, 'I'll need to keep an eye on my sister and my best mate.'

It was just Kidou, Gouenji and Aphrodi left stood there, exchanging glances, before coming to join us.

'I believe in you guys,' Gouenji said, 'so I'm coming with you.'

So, we all stood staring into these doors, with no clue what's behind them, what was going to happen, nothing. I'd reached a point in life where whatever happens, I was going to have to deal with it. In less than a year, I'd found out that I have been living with my real parents and brother after thinking I was adopted, along with the fact that we look identical, finding out that you'd had your hair dyed blonde when in fact it was blue all along, you're pretty much prepared for anything.

'Three.'

'Two.'

'One.'

We stepped forward into the blue glow of the doors, hearts racing - we all knew that we could be giving up everything for this - whatever it may be.

'Oh for God's sake!' Aphrodi exclaimed. 'We're in another room.'

We all looked around, walked towards bookshelves, mirrors, chairs, tables, before I was suddenly pushed back onto the floor, and blinded by yet another light.. In front of us stood a thin, white figure. We were all on the floor, propped up on our elbows. Even though I couldn't see her face due to the light, I could feel her piercing eyes, although it seemed a friendly stare, not a harsh one. Her voice echoed and began to speak again, approaching us. Scrambling to my feet, to show I'm not intimidated, even though my heart was pounding, breaking through my ribs. Her voice became clearer, and I recognised it.

"I never thought it would be you, though." she smiled.

She was stood in front of the light now and I could see the outline of her face, and I had an idea of her hair colour too. It was blue, a dark shade of azure.

"Ulvida?" I asked. "Is that you?"

She tossed her head back and laughed, but not in spite. I could see her eye colour – the same shade as her hair - it had to be her.

"Of course it's me! Only please, don't call me Ulvida, my name's Reina. I've been in here a while now, staring at the door you lot just fell through," she explained.

Ichirouta stood up and is stumbled up to me, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"Hi," he smiled, "So, the whole 'alien' thing is over now I'm guessing?"

Reina nodded. "Yeah, it is. Do you have any clue what we're doing here?"

I glanced at the others who were sat on the floor, staring at us, due to the way I was casually talking to someone who once tried to destroy – or kill – us.

"Not any more than you do. Can you go through the door behind you?" I asked.

"I've tried but I honestly can't. It's probably a puzzle or secret of some sort by the look of things around here."

I turned around and walked back over to the others, and gave them a hand up. We were going to get through the door and get out of this place if it's the last thing I did - I'd rather die trying than die knowing I never tried.

"Come on," I quietly chanted, "It'll be worth it in the end."

We inspected every inch of the door, trying to find a crack, a hole – anything that we could use to get through. To be honest, I didn't think there would be any gaps at all – not in somewhere like this. Then it occurred to me - barge it down. I took a few steps back before charging at the door, slamming all my weight into it, and did so three times before anyone realised that I was not going to stop - it didn't hurt, as the tingling numbness ran through me to the extent that I had slightly forgotten myself.

"What are you doing?" Kidou exclaimed, "Stop it!"

He grabbed me by the shoulders, trying to pull me back.

"Why?" I shouted at him, wriggling out of his grip. "You've never been trapped somewhere before, unable to leave. It's not happening again!"

My heart raced, my blood beginning to boil. I'd never felt like this before; I'd felt angry, but not that angry. It was more than anger, it was rage. Kidou was on the floor but I hadn't got free of his grip. The others stared at me in disbelief, and they'd all taken a step back.

"Kidou?" Endou's peered at his face, "Kidou?"

"He's out cold," Fubuki exclaimed, bending down to examine him.

All I could see was their faces, struck with horror, shock and disbelief. Did I really knock Kidou out? Was this all a terrible dream? Has it all been a dream? Or has it all been real, a mess of reality? Am I some sort of monster, really? Everything's spinning, a whirlwind of faces, I can't breathe now, am I going to die?

⃰ ⃰ ⃰

Someone's breathing on my face and messing with my hair. I don't know whether to open my eyes or to just leave them closed.

"I wish she'd wake up," my brother sniffed, "I need her. She's there for me, even when I'm being awful, she doesn't turn her back."

His tears were falling on my face, warm and salty. I couldn't control my tears as one rolled down my face. I didn't know I meant that much to my brother, I always thought he'd manage without me. Whatever came over me before terrified not only me, but everyone, and I had no clue what it was or how to stop it.

Ichirouta began to cry properly, along with someone else – I couldn't tell who, although it was a cry I'd heard before. Fubuki? That's perfect. I'd made another of my close friends upset. First I made Kidou lose consciousness, then I made my brother and Fubuki cry. If I didn't open my eyes, I'd feel so guilty.

"Listen, I don't think she's going to open her eyes," Endou murmured. "Let's go."

I heard Kidou's sigh, and it was heavy and sad. I tried to comfort myself - at least he was awake.

"You want me to leave my sister?" Ichirouta exclaimed, "I thought you knew me better than that, Endou! I'll never leave her side!"

My heart was breaking – I didn't want him to fall out with his best friend, they'd known each other for so long, and I didn't want them to throw it all away, over me. The light began to stream in, making me squint, and the first thing I saw was Ichirouta and Endou hugging, and as I was scanning my surroundings I saw Aphrodi stood with Fubuki and Gouenji, talking, and Kidou standing smiling at Endou and my brother. Reina was sat by the door with her headphones in, and I couldn't honestly blame her. Nobody glanced over at me yet,but any second they would.

"Haya?" Aphrodi ran over, puzzled, "Are you awake?"

I was tempted to reply 'No, I'm not, I'm asleep with my eyes open,' but why I would say that to him. This place had put me in an odd sort of mood. Everyone was bending down to help me sit up – including Reina, who was smiling at me, which made me feel slightly uneasy as I didn't fully trust her yet. Aphrodi hoisted me up onto my right side and Gouenji on the other. I lunged into a hug with Ichirouta, with an apology, but first, I had to say something.

"Ever since we've set foot in this place we've been acting differently," Aphrodi thought out loud again. He beat me to saying that. "So what if something is here? Behind that door?"

"It wouldn't be surprising," Gouenji mumbled, as he strolled towards the door, "Who knows."

I just wanted to get through that door; I didn't care how, and within the next twenty-four hours. Any longer than that and I'd have gone mad. The door was still perfectly intact; it had no cracks, nothing. The door was hard and cold when I shoulder charged it at full speed. It wasn't hollow, but I could tell it wasn't that thick.

"Don't knock yourself out again," Endou sighed, lying on the floor and staring at me, "Please, we've had enough trauma already."

Have you ever felt like everyone is secretly scowling at you? That's how I felt. I'd caused trouble, upset and hurt people, yet I knew I couldn't do anything to try and sort it out. Reina stood up and lent against the door, and as she did the ground shook. For a split second I saw her smirk at me as she lent on the door, as if she wasn't explaining everything. She screamed and fell through the door with a loud thud as she landed on the other side.

Everyone's head flicked sharply to the door, with Kidou and Gouenji running over to see what had happened, whilst I just stood against the wall, unfazed by it. The others soon followed them both, fussing over her, asking if she was okay, and what had happened. She had her, I suppose 'normal' face on, and smiled when they offered to help her up. I decided that this was the perfect time to walk through and see what was in the room or corridor behind the door. So I did, and in the process I knocked Reina back onto the floor – apparently I pushed her when I walked past – I don't really care if I did to be honest. She has no trust of mine, and she never will.

Before me was a huge room, mirrored from ceiling to floor, with an amazing chandelier with crystals – or diamonds – gracefully hanging down from golden branches, reflecting little rainbows on the floor and ceiling. I frowned as I thought it was very strange - I mean really, a room this size in a place like this?

"You don't want to know what's behind the door do you?" I sarcastically smiled, because they were still partially fussing over Reina. I really wanted to say: Ugh, please. But then I would have appeared rude. So I held back.

We had never got along well, straight away from the day that she joined the orphanage. I stayed out of her way as best as I could, but she always went out of her way to tease and torment me, even when I pleaded for her to stay away. I could not trust her.

As the others proceeded to salivate over the decor, she approached me.

"Come on, smile, Kazetani." She whispered my old name in a way that made me shudder, violently. "Endou, look at that!" She ran off.

Kidou and Aphrodi walked over to me once again, and put a firm grip on my arms.

"Your face says a thousand words, Kaze-chan," Aphrodi whispered, "I don't like her either."

Kidou attempted to comfort me by squeezing my arm, "I saw it, don't worry. If anything happens, you tell me."

Although grateful for the offer, it infuriated me, as all my childhood I had been petrified of that girl, and yet there I was, years later, still quaking in my boots at the sight of her. I didn't want anyone's help, I wanted self help. Her voice rattled through me, and I each reverberation caused my sight to become even more greyed and pixelated, but by the time anyone noticed, all I could do was stare aimlessly ahead as the present time slipped away along with my consciousness.

The colourful walls never made me cheery in the mornings; I always preferred grey, because it was, in a way, like me - indifferent and plain. The others were vibrant, full of life and character, meaning in every single one of them, like vermillions, cerulean, ochre, rose. On the other hand, I could be mixed with another to create a more subtle, desirable shade, and when done, I could be equal in desirability.

I did the same thing each day: got up, washed, got dressed, ate breakfast, and either sat alone in my room or alone in a room of others. One thing I took pride in each day was my hair. I would sit and perfect it for as long as it took me, because my curtain that separated me from the world must be immaculate. As each year wore by, I never noticed a change in my hair, but I had always wondered why it took so much longer for me at the hairdressers compared to the others. One morning I glanced at the mirror and noticed blue at the top of my head, and thought it was a cruel joke, so I said nothing and continued with my day. I monitored this for weeks, until a month later, when I undid my bun on top of my head to reveal a sea of teal. The rest of my hair was still brown, and although shocked I was delighted. I did not understand how this had happened. My hair was brown, the dull, plain colour of the average human, not the colour of the ocean anyone would pay to see. This was fake. I had been lied to; I needed answers.

There was a knock on my door.

"It's Hiroto."

"Come in." I mumbled.

The door creaked open, and I sat on the cold, wooden floor, and stared at each individual crack. I never had visitors, and this could not be good.

He entered, emotionless, and sat next to me. There was a long silence.

"You know why," I said, finally looking up from the floor, "Don't you."

"Yes. I do. You have to promise to never speak a word of this," he admitted, "Or we'll both be in trouble."

"Tell me."

"It's hair dye."

"Is that it?" I screamed, "Get out, now! Your games are not funny, and unless you know the real reason as to why it's dyed, never speak to me again!"

With that, he calmly left, and I kicked the ball, hard, at the door. Soon after that, there was another visitor, who decided not to announce their arrival.

"Just thought we'd drop by," Gazel smirked, "since you don't have many friends and all."

I did not respond.

"We wanted to let you know that Father is looking for you, and it isn't for a good reason. We were going to advise you to run away, but I doubt you'll believe us."

Burn kicked the door wider, and they both gave me a serious stare, which somehow made me believe their words for once. Normally, they taunted and harassed me whilst Midorikawa and Hiroto ensured they did not upset me, but the mischievous glimmer was not present, and this was proof that they were not lying.

"No, I believe you."

"Oh, so Little Miss Average trusts us?" Burn laughed, "This is an interesting development."

Gazel stepped forward. "I'll help you pack. Burn, don't just stand there."

They would not help me unless they were serious, and they thoroughly checked my room to check that I had everything packed, as if anything was left behind, I would be found.

"I devised you a route to take," Gazel uttered, "There are no alternatives since we live at the base of a mountain. Be grateful."

My backpack was packed with my few possessions, and it was adjusted so it hung in the curve of my back. I had no goodbyes, after all, I was invisible in the orphanage's eye. There were next to no cherished memories for me, making it incredibly easy for me to let go. The duo left until just after curfew - 8pm - where they reappeared, along with Midorikawa and Hiroto. Seeing the four of them reminded me of Christmas, purely because of their hair colours - the fire, the snow and ice, the tree and the red decorations, but this was without fond memories of the event. Surprisingly, as I attempted to walk past them, Burn and Gazel put out their hands, for a hand shake. There was little time for shock, but I was taken aback by this gesture from the emotionless fronted boys. I shook their hands and bowed, before Midorikawa handed me food supplies, and he and Hiroto hugged me, quite tightly, for people that I was not close to.

"Be safe," Midorikawa stuttered, "We care, you know."

"Be noticed. Be the best, better than us," Hiroto smiled, "I'll see you at the top."

The corridor lights flickered, and I ran as fast I could, keys in hand, ecstatic for the outside world, but fearful for my life. The contents of my bag were varied and at times strange, including Gazel's football boots, a selection of Midorikawa's toiletries, and a purse stuffed full of cash, stolen from the office. My steps were silent and matched the pounding of my chest as I raced down the final staircase, faced with the doors that had separated my childhood from that of the rest of the world. The key cleverly labelled 'Freedom' fitted into the keyhole perfectly, and as it turned, I felt the world welcomed upon my shoulders, and with map in hand and a deep inhalation, I ran through the woods towards the nearest bus stop.

The bus driver's words rang through my head as someone gently whispered 'Kazetani', and I stirred.

"Young girl, this is your stop," they said, "I hope you'll be safe."

"Th-Thank you." I replied. It was nice to spoken to directly.

I stepped off the bus onto the solid ground of the outside world, and was in awe of the surroundings - a river straight ahead, beautiful little houses behind, accompanied by a few dozen skyscrapers, which I had never seen before. I headed towards the river, mesmerised by its flow and form, the colour similar to that of my mysterious hair fiasco, when I saw a boy with the most unusual hair style I had ever seen. His eyes were innocent yet such a piercing red, and his sandy hair was in dreadlocks and tied back. He was stood, staring into the water, so I decided if I was going to do that too, I might as well do it with someone.

"It's beautiful," I sighed, "I've never seen anything like this before."

His gaze fixed on me. "What, really? Wait, you're serious," he paused, "I'm Kidou, Kidou Yuuto."

"I'm," I hadn't thought of this, what was my name going to be? "Kazetani Hayato. Pleasure."

His eyes studied my face, "Are you here by yourself?"

I gulped. If he reported me, this could have all been over. "Yes, but I have my reasons."

"I'll show you around. Come on."

He took me into the shopping area, into a noodle bar, Rai-Rai Noodles, and insisted that he bought me whatever food I wanted, and I think he new that I was here alone, and that I planned on staying. At first he seemed a little cold, but he soon became friendly towards me, and we talked non-stop for about an hour.

"You're a nice guy, Kazetani, but your other name is a bit unusual. How did it come about?"

He thought I was a boy, and I did not know whether to tell him that I was, in fact, a girl, or to just leave him to believe what he concluded. I told him.

"Kidou-san," I sighed, "I'm a girl."

"Forgive my assumption," he replied, unfazed, "It's just you seem to have a boyish attitude, and with you loving football, I reached the wrong conclusion. Say, do you have a school to go to?"

"I don't."

"If you can pass the exam and interview, you'll be allowed in. I'll make sure to drop a good word in to the governor, and you may just become a Teikoku student, like me." He sounded pleased with himself. "But you won't be able to join the football team."

"I could, and I would," I told him, "I'll do whatever it takes to become the best I can."

Kidou nodded; he was not going to argue with someone so definite in their goal, especially not with someone he had unknowingly taken a liking to. He paid the bill and we left, but I did not know where, all I knew was that he insisted I came along. We walked for at least half an hour, until we reached a housing estate, of grand homes. Uncertainty surrounded me, thoughts about people looking down on me were imminent, until he turned around.

"This is my house," he pointed, "my parents aren't home, so this should make finding you some suitable clothing rather easy. I also got a text from my friend, who said the governor is desperate for people to join our school. You'll probably be allowed to walk in on Monday - don't worry, I'll sort it out for you."

I thanked him blankly, as I couldn't take my eye off the building that loomed before me. White polished marble exterior blinded me with its pristine finish, the shrubs and bushes lushly rustling in the green breeze, petals perfectly perching above leaves, and an expensive smell wafted through the air. He lead me along the equally polished path to the front door, to which we were greeted by a smartly dressed servant.

"Welcome, Kidou-san. Does your father know you have a guest?"

He simply dismissed the man, still silent, before beckoning me to follow him up winding staircase - still marble - until we reached what I could only presume was his own living room.

He proceeded to hand me a school dark green-grey uniform with a red stripe down the sides, as well as a pair of smart black shoes, which I presumed was the Teikoku uniform.

"Put it on then," he urged, "you need to learn how to act like a boy."

He spent the next few hours half-seriously training me to become a believable male, which turned out quite successfully, as we worked on my walk, voice, body language, conversation topics, mannerisms and other basic facts of being a boy. It was vital for this to work, as if I did not join the football club then, how would I ever join one? This training was suddenly interrupted by Kidou's phone ringing.

"Hello?… Yes, father. I have done what I was assigned to do by the Commander, don't worry... Goodbye." He exhaled heavily, "That was my father, he's coming home soon. My mother is away, but you're welcome to stay for the night until you find somewhere more permanent."

I anticipated the ring of the doorbell and my first performance as the boy I was to become.

"Kidou," a deep voice rang throughout the halls, "I brought dinner home with me."

"Father, I have a friend with me," he replied as we came downstairs, "This is Kazetani Hayato, he's starting Teikoku tomorrow. I met him today at the riverbank."

I bowed to him, and this signalled the rise of the curtain. I had a new hairstyle now, with nothing to hide behind.

"Pleasure. Please, Kazetani, you'll have to tell me about yourself over dinner. I'm glad I brought plenty."

That evening, the dinner went smoothly, and I stayed in Kidou's room on a spare bed taken from one of the many disused rooms. Starting Teikoku was going to be a big day for me, and I had to get everything right, which would depend on me not being tired, but I couldn't settle. I tossed and turned, before he turned to face me.

"Can't sleep?"

"No."

"To tell the truth, I can't either."

"Are," I hesitated, "is he your -"

"No, he isn't my father. I was going to tell you this later, but it might as well be now. You see, Kageyama recognised my talent when I was a little kid - six to be exact - and he knew I was smart, and wanted me to have a good life. I don't know why, but he decided to approach Kidou, my adoptive father. There was one strange condition mixed in with the adoption, which was that I could not see my sister,Otonashi, who I had been really close to in the children's home. Father said that if I could impress him, he might allow me to see her, and if I win the national football tournament, it might just be enough."

"I'm sorry for asking."

"Honestly, don't be. When I saw you today, I instinctively knew that you were an orphan, and I wanted to help you. At first, it was out of pity, but I think I like you as a friend now too... But there is one thing I'd like to ask you. Why did you run away?"

I had dreaded him asking me this question. "You must swear not to tell anyone, ok?"

"I swear."

"I'm not sure of the full story myself, but what I do know is that something bad was going to happen to all of the children. The four favourite kids, two of which loved to taunt and laugh at me, came to my room to tell me that I had to leave there and then. The man we called 'father' was looking for me, and they knew that it wasn't for a good reason. No-one there had ever viewed me as any good at anything, that is if they ever acknowledged my existence, and since someone was offering me a way out, I decided to take it. I know whatever the reason the was, it was serious, as one of the boys would have never lied to anyone."

"You make it sound as if you could never leave," he laughed.

"I couldn't, nobody could. Any knowledge of the outside world was dampened and ignored. Within the place, kids would be taken away for a few days at a time and come back completely fearless and almost invincible, whilst some were never seen again."

Kidou sat, stunned into silence.

"We better sleep," he whispered, "we need to make a good and convincing impression."

I stood outside Kageyama's office, poised and ready to act my best boyish self. So far, so good. A muffled voice boomed for me to enter, and I followed suit.

"Kazetani Hayato, I presume. Unusual choice of name."

Five steps forward, then a bow.

"Yes, sir."

"What is it you want to ask, boy?"

"Sir, I would like to trial for the football team."

"Oh, really?" he smirked, "You don't seem like the athletic type."

"There is more to me than meets the eye, sir."

The man rose to his feet, picked up the ball on his desk, and stared out of his smoky window that overlooked the stadium.

"Confident, I see. Since you are so keen, let's go down there now. Follow me."

He walked out of his office with me in tow, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I was halfway there, all I had to do now was actually pass the trial. The only problem was that the whole team was already out on the field practicing, with their own hissatus and tactic, whilst I had no perfected special techniques whatsoever. Little did they know, however, that at the crack of dawn, Kidou went with me to the riverside to try and start a technique of my own. With a quick pit stop to the changing rooms, I was ready to go.

"Who is that?"

The whole team glared and smirked at the weak boy with the weird hair - me. I had to simply ignore their intimidation techniques, and shrug off their glances.

"This is Kazetani Hayato, who will be trialling today. I expect you to treat him like a team member."

"Yes, Commander."

With that, it was time to trial. The others got into position, first team on the right, reserves on the left, with me in defence - I had no assigned position, so I chose something that I felt I could do, and maybe just surprise them all.

For the first ten minutes, the first team scored two goals, with the reserves panicking that they would be shunned from the team for good. It took some coaxing for them to pass me the ball, and after a few tackles and good dribbles, the persuasion paid off. The determination and aggression had bubbled up, and when I saw a chance I took it. I ran into space and asked for a long ball, dodging and weaving through three defenders effortlessly before I saw the goal, before it was time to impress them all. With a heel-flick, the ball chipped high into the air, and I swiftly followed it, twisting quickly, before back-flipping and kicking the ball with such force, it charged into the back of the net.

"Soul Destroyer!" I yelled as I landed on the pitch.

Everyone was silent, and stood, alternately staring at me and the ball in disbelief.

"W..W...What?" the goalkeeper shouted, "Impossible! Nothing beats me!"

"Well, soldiers! Seems this new recruit has a little more buck for his bite than we anticipated." Kageyama grinned twistedly, "Kazetani. You're in. Here's your kit," he then turned to everyone else, "Dismissed."

Kidou approached me afterwards, and congratulated me publicly. His friends seemed shocked to see we were already acquainted, but willing to make my acquaintance too.

I planned to make conversation with them, but I was beckoned back by Kageyama, who wanted Kidou to come too.

"I see you know Kidou reasonably well, Kazetani. He has informed me of your situation, and I would like to make you an offer that you cannot refuse. I have found you a family that you can call your own, and will nurture your talent. I will allow you to continue your football career anywhere you choose, although there will be consequences if you leave my guidance. Understood?"

"Thank you, sir." I bowed.

"Come outside when you're ready to go."

When Kageyama was out of earshot, I turned to Kidou and cried. This was all I had ever wanted in life, and it was all coming true so easily, and I had Kidou to thank, since it was his "Kidou, thank you. Whatever happens, I have your back, I promise."

"It's worth it," he smiled, "to see you closer to your dreams."

He walked with me to the front of the school, where I was faced with a man, a woman, and a boy about my age. The woman had long, chestnut hair with a side parting, with the man having short, teal hair. The boy had long, teal hair in a side part with bangs, tied up into a ponytail, and amber-brown eyes, with a semi-serious expression on his face, which seemed oddly familiar. His eyes inspected me fiercely, before he let loose a sympathetic smile. Kageyama spoke to the man and woman, before leaving quietly.

"Well, Hayato, welcome to the Kazemaru family." The lady smiled, and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"We're pleased to have you, and will do our very best."

The boy stepped forward, "I'm Kazemaru Ichirouta, your new brother. I'm the same age as you," He smiled and reached out for a handshake, which I shook gladly. "it's a shame we go to different schools though."

"Yeah it is, but we'll probably get fed up of each other." I laughed awkwardly, but so did they.

And so, life was simple for a good six months. My new family saw me as their son, with every hope and aspiration of mine valued and strived for, and my brother became one of my closest friends. I trained everyday at school with Kidou, and became close to Sakuma and Genda. I played in every game and we won all of them, with Kageyama constantly pushing me to become the best I could. However, there came about a strange change within his attitude towards me. I had never really spoken to Fudou, who seemed to try and pick apart my ways, as if he was trying to uncover something that was hidden deep beneath the surface. I felt he was aiming to expose me for who I really was...

And I was right.

It was during the final training session before a week's holiday that I was called upon in front of my teammates, and they were called to stop running and stand in front of me by none other than Fudou. If training was halted, it had to have a strong reason, and whatever was to happen was not going to be pleasant. Fudou apporahced me, and his eyes inspected every corner of my soul, his eyes flitting violently around my face, before his pupils pierced mine.

"I don't think you're aware of Kazetani's true talents." He smirked at everyone.

"For God's sake Fudou, leave him alone. What's he ever done to you?" Sakuma spat ferociously.

He looked at Sakuma coldly. "In fact, what I'm about to say could apply to you too."

"If it's not anything remotely interesting, I'd prefer to get back to training. We already know about him." Genda sighed.

Kidou fidgeted nervously before announcing, "Fudou, stop."

"Hm? Oh, would you look at that, defending his girlfriend! Very courtly!"

Fudou harshly tugged at my hair so that it fell out of its boyish style, before kicking me in the crotch to prove that there was in fact nothing there. Kidou rushed forward in an attempt to stop the revelation, but even he realised that it was too late to contain it all.

"This proves nothing," Genda muttered, "A boy can have long hair and a high pain tolerance."

I glanced at Kidou who nodded at me to speak.

"No," I gulped, "I'm a girl, but it's not what you think. I'm doing this - or did this - to improve my abilities so that I can be the best me possible, and to help your team win another consecutive year. You can't hate me for that, because I guarantee you know the feeling of wanting to be the best. I beg you all to not tell Commander."

"We have no wish to expose you, Kazetani," Sakuma smiled sympathetically, "and we'll make sure that this - creature - doesn't breathe a word."

"You have to leave." Kidou said sharply, "It's not safe anymore. If he were to find out, your whole livelihood would be taken away from you, and I can't allow that."

Fudou scowled, stunned into silence that the whole Teikoku team had been so easily shushed.

"Thank you all, for everything."

Training continued, but was dismissed early, and Kidou, Sakuma and Genda gathered around me, in which I presumed was for them to say their final goodbyes.

It was Genda's turn first. "It's a little bit odd that I've spent all this time with you thinking that you were a boy. I don't like the fact that you had to pretend to be a boy though, but I wish you the best. We'll play against each other some day." With that, we ended with a handshake.

"Genda basically said it all," Sakuma smiled, "but good luck. I believe in you, and I'll be behind you." he paused, "Kidou, we'll leave you to it."

As they walked away, Kidou pulled me into a hug - something that I never expected from him - and from their faces, neither did they.

"I wish we could still play together, but it's just not safe enough anymore. If Commander found out, he would go on a rampage, and who knows what would happen." he gulped, "but what I was trying to say was... You're my best friend. I'll always be here for you, even if we're against each other, I'll never hurt you."

"Kidou-kun," my eyes pricked with tears - who knew that he could be so sincere? "Thank you for everything. We'll play together again someday, don't worry, and I promise that I'll keep training until then."

He smiled, wincing, "I'd like that. Is it OK if I visit you sometimes?"

I laughed, "Stupid question."

With that, I had to leave, no intention of heading anywhere specific, just home. Everything would work out then. I told my parents that I wanted to transfer schools, over dinner, which they agreed to of course - as did Kageyama, if it was on his approved list - whilst Ichirouta sat and stared into his food, and intermittently at me. Father mentioned that he had heard that Zeus had recently become notorious for football, and so we swiftly decided this was to be my next school. During the deliberations, Ichirouta had still not moved, and when the adults were cleaning up, I enquired into his silence.

"I don't want you to go there, plain and simple."

"Come off it, Ichirouta. I know there's more to it than that. You don't like me very much, I know, and you especially hate the special treatment I get, but you know the conditions I have to follow if I want to improve my skills and live a normal life without punishment."

He didn't respond, so I left the table and headed towards the stairs, before he grabbed me against the wall.

"I don't know what your game is, but I don't trust you one little bit," he whispered angrily, "Something isn't right about you, and I have a feeling you're not really who you say you are."

I smirked, "I don't really know who I am either, onii-chan," I used his least favourite term in the most patronising way possible, "but one thing I do know is, I like you, so I'll tell you my secret. I'm a girl."

"Just as I thought. Do they know -"

"No, and it's part of the conditions that they don't. I have the feeling Kageyama already knows, though, considering he's a smart man. We both want the same things, you and I, so I suggest you get along with me. I'm really alright."

He released his grip.

"I suppose you've got a deal. You're not too bad."

"Well, isn't that charming." I laughed, as we went upstairs to build up the friendship.

For the rest of the evening, we sat on the bedroom floor and worked through some homework together, since we were doing the same topic, and it was strange how we both thought of things the same way - I thought a function was the name for a graph that was used in a machine, and so did he. It wasn't. We muddled our way through the work, and each night we'd chat and work, with the ice between the two of us gradually melting away. Eventually, we became close friends, with our back garden being the training ground for our football skills, and leaving for school each morning became quite a sad thing.

At the same time, I settled in nicely at Zeus, considering the majority of people were friendly or would hold a quick conversation with you. Of course, I had to join the football club.

"Excuse me," I said, weaving my way round to the front of this person, "are you the captain of the football team?"

Now, from behind, I could have sworn this was a girl, and the name would have had anyone fooled. The long, flowing ash blonde hair was incredibly deceiving though.

"Yes, I am," they chimed, happily, "I heard there was someone wanting to join - I'm Afuro Terumi."

He gave me a comforting smile and a handshake, and invited me along with him for a walk around.

I thought I must have looked masculine in comparison to him, so didn't think there was much chance in anyone finding me out.

"So, yeah, our football club's improved a lot lately," he concluded, "anyway, what school did you say you transferred from?"

Unsure at his reaction, I lowered my voice, "Teikokou."

"You're pretty good then right? I think I've seen you before in their player records. Apparently we're getting a new manager soon, so a new player and manager should definitely boost the team! We'd do anything to win the Football Frontier - oh and don't worry, you don't have to trial."

Afuro showed me around the school, and he seemed well-liked, but a loner, so I felt a sort of honour by accompanying him. We were in the exact same classes for everything, which was brilliant, in the fact that I had a friend with me the whole time, and I think he was glad too.

A few months later, we were almost always together on weekdays, and would meet up sometimes at the weekends, that is if I wasn't with my brother. Sometimes, Kidou and I would meet and it would be just like old times again, and I didn't have to worry about anything getting in the way of our friendship. Sakuma would occasionally make an appearance, whilst Genda was generally too busy to care.

"So, how's everything?" Sakuma asked, slurping a strawberry milkshake, "Hopefully no idiots like our favourite friend."

"Don't even mention his name," Kidou scoffed, before smiling, "I bet the team aren't as good as us though."

"Oh I don't know," I laughed through my soda, "you can never be too sure."

At that moment, Afuro walked past the cafe window, stopped, turned around, and came into the shop.

"Room for one more?"

"Of course - Kidou, Sakuma, this is Afuro Terumi."

"Pleasure," Kidou and Sakuma smiled.

Afuro sat next to me and proceeded to drink the remainder of my soda, much to their surprise. "I'll buy another, don't worry, we always do this. I have to say, I didn't expect you two to be friends with Kazetani," Afuro rambled, "although I saw some of your teamwork and I was really impressed."

We trudged around the shopping area for the rest of the day, and then walked over to the park, just for a kickabout, where we saw some kid fall out of a tree - we went over to see if they were OK, and they had to go off in an ambulance and everything. It killed the football mood, so we sat and talked in the fading sun, until Afuro's phone viciously vibrated. He decided it was probably nothing, until my phone also joined in, and it was at this point that we decided that we should check:

'ATTENTION!

ALL FOOTBALL TEAM MEMBERS TO COME TO THE TRAINING GROUND IMMEDIATELY.'

"Well, that's rudely blunt. Or is it bluntly rude? I don-"

Time for an interruption. "We best go. Sorry guys, we'll catch up later, don't worry!"

As we were running to school, at 5pm on a Saturday, my hair unravelled out of its boyish style, only to be met with 'You have long hair too, cool!' by a panting Afuro. When we approached the school gates, I slipped it back into place, and headed towards the training ground. The eeriness of the abandoned school was intensified by its grandeur; styled to be like Ancient Rome and Athens, stone pillars surrounding every step.

Everyone gathered on the pitch, and there was a general hum of voices, before the floodlights beamed down and dazzled the retinas out of us all, followed by a voice:

"I am your new manager. You will not get to meet me, unless I command you to do so. Each and every one of you will be remembered as if you were a god, superior to the rest. Be thankful."

The lights dimmed and the voice reached its last echo, with us silent. What could we make of that?

Afuro and I were the last to leave the school grounds, and as we locked the gates, some boys about our age passed us by on bikes, with various heckles of "girly-boy" and the like. He didn't flinch until after they were out of sight, before his clenched fists began to shake.

I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you OK? Don't get hurt by them, they're just stupid."

He didn't respond.

"Afuro -"

"They bullied me through school. When I was younger. That's all. The insults bring back the fact that I can't fight anyone off, I'm not strong enough. All I've ever wanted is to prove to them that I am strong, and they'll leave me alone."

His response shocked me, as it made me remember how I felt in the orphanage, and Hiroto's last words to me, 'be the best'.

"You're not alone, you know. Back when I was in the orphanage, I would be constantly pushed around and considered useless. I hated them for it, I really did. There were a couple of kids who stuck up for me when things got too bad, and they told me to 'be the best'." My voice began to crack. "They'd always jeer, 'the useless girl', 'mental case', 'the girl with no point'."

I said it. I wasn't planning on, but I did. I prayed that he was too upset to hear it.

"You want to be the best, too?"

I nodded.

"Let's do it, together. We'll show them," he gulped, and gave me a stare full of courage and passion. He meant his words. "Your secret's safe, by the way. You do give it away a bit when you let your guard down."

Over the remainder of the weekend, I received numerous messages containing strict instructions on what I could and could not do, as well as a fitness regime that I must follow. There was a rule which did allow any team member to meet with friends or message them, from other schools. I spent Sunday helping my brother with last minute preparations for Raimon's game against Teikokou, giving him tips and tricks on how to stop their attack. I received an email that I thought was completely strange, but it turned out Afuro and the other received one too. It contained a God or Goddess that each player would be named after, and our playing style would evolve to match the person. Much to my surprise, my playing style fitted the description exactly, as well as the physical description - I was given the Goddess of -, Asteria.

On Monday, I promised my brother that I would go and watch his match, but that I may be a little late. He said it was fine, so we went our separate ways to school once again. When I arrived, I was told to ignore homeroom and go to the club room, where my first taste of the regime would take place. We were ordered about by the Voice, dropping to our knees to do press ups, rolling over to do sit ups, flailing around doing pull ups, and stretching muscles we never knew existed. This had to be endured for 30 minutes every morning, and it would rise in intensity as we improved.

"I am pleasantly surprised by the dedication some of you have already shown today. Aphrodi, you will be the captain. Asteria, vice." The voice announced.

Aphrodi turned and grinned at me. "We can do this, Kaz- I mean Asteria."

"Finally, a new sports drink will be given to you in the coming days. I hope you will find it very beneficial. I expect you will all be at training tonight."

And that was that.

The rest of the day flew by, and I dragged myself through the streets to Raimon after another painful after-school session, hoping that I wouldn't tear a muscle as my body felt like the slightest movement would crush it. I made it with ten minutes to spare, and Ichirouta was waiting outside the gates for me.

"You made it on time! Are you sure wearing that is the best idea?"

"Wearing what?" I scanned myself and realised that I had completely disregarded the fact that I was wearing my Zeus kit. "Oh."

"Considering you look like you're dying right now, I'll lend you my clothes that are in my bag. Come on." He jogged over to the changing rooms, and I remembered why I hated having a sprinter as a brother. I wanted to make a sarcastic joke about child cruelty, but I honestly couldn't find the breath or make my mouth function properly to form a word.

As I emerged from the changing cubicle, the large mirror before me made me notice a few new things. The first was that our hair had some striking similarities, like the way our partings fell onto our faces, and the way it looked tied back. Secondly, our eye colour was extremely similar, with the final thing being that our way of thinking, although with contesting personalities, had a likeness.

"Honestly, I think you over analyse things sometimes," he sighed, "they just matched you well with us, so it made it seem like we are related. Although, the hair thing -"

"Go on, do it!" I laughed.

He parted and styled my hair to perfectly resemble his, and considering I was wearing his normal casual outfit, we decided this would be a funny and unforgettable way for me to meet his teammates.

As we walked out of Raimon's changing rooms, we passed the away section, to which Genda was coming out of.

"Long time no see, Kazetani," he said, almost cracking a smile, "interesting style choice today." He acknowledged my brother in a way that was not over friendly but not menacing. They were rivals after all. "I'd get Kidou and Sakuma, but I think they're too busy trying to ignore Fudou right now."

"Oh, er, OK. Good luck."

There was quite a large crowd of people gathering to watch the game, so I thought it was the perfect place to blend in, even though I stood at the front to get the best view. Teikokou's entrance was nothing less than terrifyingly and alarmingly proposed, as they marched over to their side of the pitch. I saw no harm in walking over, and greeted everyone with a sense of relief, as it was nice to see that none of them begrudged me. Simultaneously, Raimon came out, and I could hear the hushed confusion as to why there were two Ichiroutas.

"Kazetani-chan, come crawling back have we? Amounted to nothing less than failure, I see. I'd give sympathy, but I really couldn't care less."

With every word, Fudou edged closer towards me, before I could feel him spitting his words right behind me.

"Nothing to say? Just what I'd expect from a well behaved gir-"

I tried to contemplate his worth, I really did. But... Rage flooded my veins and drained into my fist, which burst onto the bank that was Fudou's face. A huge red knuckle mark began to form on his face almost instantly, as a small red river flowed from his nose.

Before he could protest, he realised that it was pointless to attempt to do so. The Raimon camp had gone silent, with my brother's eyes questioning me.

"Good luck guys."

I hugged Sakuma and then gave Kidou an even bigger hug, before strolling over to my brother. I lightly tapped him on the shoulder, so then he stepped back and allowed me to join the circle of players.

"Good punch," a boy with a bad nose and even worse pink shaved hair cackled, "he must've deserved that one."

"Someoka, you're so violent," one piped, a short boy with brown hair in the shape of a mountain and a plaster over the ridge of his nose, before realising his mistake, "b-but it's not s bad thing!"

Kazemaru spoke, "Everyone, this is my brother I've been telling you about, Kazetani Hayato. Before you say, yes he does have an odd name."

"You're not meant to call me that," I whispered angrily, "don't get me in trouble."

A friendly boy with an orange bandana spoke to me. "You seem friendly with Teikokou, how do you know them?"

"I, er, went there for a while." I waited for the dreaded 'where do you go now' question, which I answered, hesitantly.

"Since we're on the subject, I'm only meant to be known as Asteria. It's weird I know, but they're the rules. I better leave you to it now, I'll be cheering - hopefully we get to play together sometime!"

"Yeah, let's play football sometime!" He shouted after me.

There didn't seem to be any harm in him, so I happily sat down to watch the match. I expected Kageyama to appear, but he never did, as I was all ready to pull the hoodie over my head and hide - he hadn't been seen around for a while, and I suspected that the Teikokou team were not expecting him to turn up. Throughout the first half of the match, I found it difficult to sit and watch, as I really didn't know who to cheer for more - I cheered at everything, which annoyed a lot of people surrounding me, since I found people moving away from me. One thing I didn't cheer for, though, was Fudou. He continually kept using dirty play against Raimon, especially Kazemaru, but the worst thing was that he even tackled him so that he went flying through the air. The half time whistle went, but Kazemaru didn't get up for a minute or two, and Kidou was furious - not only because of Fudou's aggressive ignorance, but the fact that he was doing it to anger me made it worse.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kidou shouted, "You can't go around playing like that, it's disgraceful - you're giving yourself and the rest of us a bad name!"

Sakuma placed a calming hand on his shoulder, whilst Fudou dragged his feet along as he walked over to Kidou, and smirked.

"Do you really think I care," he rolled his eyes, before looking at the floor again, "I only listen to you because I have to."

Sakuma spoke, "Get off this field now. Go on, go."

"Fine. Whatever." he began to walk off, hands in pockets, "Oh, Kazetani-chan, your boyfriend loves fighting your battles for you. Then again, you're just a girl aren't you."

I didn't even bother to reply. Instead, I walked over to Raimon, and tried to chat more naturally to everyone.

"Oh, he's a really good player," my brother said, "go on, show them your shot."

I tried to bluff that I was too embarrassed, but they were having none of it - so, Endou, orange bandana boy, marched into the goal and stationed himself, whilst I wandered to the edge of the box with the ball. Luckily, there were only about 5 of the crowd left as the rest had gone to get food, so it was relatively safe for me to demonstrate my skills.

Deep breath. "You ready Endou?"

"Bring it!"

A huge wave of stars engulfed me, and all that could be heard was their twinkling, as the stars raised me up as I jumped, before engulfing the ball into a blinding ball of nebula, and I sent the asteroid shattering through the air with one swift kick and a back turn, before landing back on the ground.

When I opened my eyes - which I had to shut due to the brightness - all I saw was Endou sitting in heap on the ground, stunned, as well as the faces of the Raimon and Teikokou teams in complete disbelief.

To break the silence, I pondered, "Was it any good?"

"That... That was the strongest shot I've ever seen in my life," Sakuma whispered to Kidou, "It's definitely built upon her old moves, that's for sure."

"That was amazing!" Endou chanted, before running up and grinning in my face, "Thank you!"

Ichirouta smiled, "He's not too shabby, right boys? You better sit down, anyway, the second half's starting soon."

As I walked away, I heard murmurs of excitement, shock, and worry from both teams.

When the match was over, and Raimon had won, I waited for my brother to come out of the changing rooms, but was grabbed by Kidou who seemed very serious. It was only a friendly.

"You've had some of that drink, haven't you?" He demanded.

"What? What drink?"

"That 'energy drink' they give you at school. There's something not right about it.

"In what way?"

"Haven't you noticed? Your team seems to have grown a lot stronger in a very short space of time, an amount that would normally take at least a year has taken a few weeks," he explained, "I think it affects your body somehow, I'm not sure, but please don't drink it."

I didn't have the heart to protest, but he wouldn't be concerned about nothing. "Alright, I won't drink any."

It was hard not to drink any, and at first, much of the team thought I was some double agent or something, but I simply insisted I wanted to get stronger on my own. They laughed and thought the whole idea was ridiculous, after all, why refuse help when it's right in front of you? Either way, it didn't bother the manager, who never made an appearance, and favoured me quite a lot more than the others. All of that was true until the game against Teikokou.

The road to the Football Frontier was never going to be straight forward, and we won every game we played with ease. We became known as a team of Gods, with teams later boycotting games out of fear. The more games, the more of Gods Aqua that was drank, and the more Aphrodi changed. He was still nice to me, but we drifted apart, as he became so focused on winning and being stronger, I didn't really want to be around him. The rest of the team became more power thirsty, although they were never nice anyway. It became apparent that I had to act in a similar way, or something would be suspected, so I too had to act as if I was superior to everyone - although I didn't act that way with my brother at home, since he thought I didn't drink it as it was just an energy drink that I didn't like. He was busy training, and always had Endou or a few of the others round, or was at one of their houses. I always envied that. I became a loner, of sorts, as I still chatted with Kidou when appropriate, and Aphrodi was still a good friend to me, and my brother and I were as close as ever, but I felt lonely.

Endou only ever came round once every week, and I was normally out, but for once I was in, just sat in our room, doing nothing.

"Uh, Hayato," Kazemaru said through the door, "Can we come in?"

"Yeah why not," I replied, before flopping backwards onto the bed. "Wait, we?"

"Oh hey again, Hayato-san," Endou beamed, "You're actually home for once!"

"Yeah, we have a night off training for once, and it's only because we have a game tomorrow."

"Oh yeah, that's right, you do, against Teikokou right? They're a strong team. Y'know."

My brother smiled, and asked Endou what he wanted to do.

"Obvious answer, Kaze-kun! Football, down by the riverside," and he turned and grinned at me, "You too, Kazetani."

"OK, sure," I smiled back, "I really shouldn't, but if I'm careful I suppose it'll be alright."

I quite enjoyed the kickabout to be honest, since it was just pure fun, without any pressures or acts by me. Endou wished me luck before we left, and me and my brother walked back home the scenic way. He walked with me all the way to school too, since I'd probably been a bit down and seemed nervous, which was a brave thing for him to do, walk past another school in uniform.

"Good luck today," he comforted me, "You'll do amazing, as always."

"Thank you!"

We hugged goodbye, with the funny looks intensifying, and he jogged off on his daily run to school.

I walked into the club room, to be met with: "I can't believe you're related to him."

"So? What's the problem?"

"Well, he's nowhere near as good as you, for starters, and he goes to Raimon, which about sums it up."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, well, we have more important things to focus on, don't we? Like winning today."

"Asteri-kun's right," Aphrodi backed me up, "go on, get changed, all of you. Meet at the gates for the bus, don't be late."

He turned to me, as the others stared and sniggered.

"Is everything alright? You seem off today."

"You know the manager said he's going to be there today? Well, he'll be able to see that I haven't drank any of the aqua, and he threatened us that if we don't obey him, somethings going to happen."

It seemed as if he was his old self at this point, probably because he hadn't drank the aqua in a while, as he asked, "There's more than that, Hayato-kun, isn't there?"

"Well -"

"If it's Kidou, don't worry. I won't expect you to do anything against him."

"It's not just that," I explained, "you've become... Different, whenever you drink that stuff, not just stronger, but different."

"Come on girly boys, time to go!"

We sat together on the bus to Teikokou, and his hand landed on top of mine, in an attempt to comfort me, but it made me go extremely red and shocked me. It's really hard to pretend to be a boy when you end up fancying your best friend, but at least he knew I was a girl.

It was getting incredibly noisy on the back row, as the rest of the team got increasingly rowdier.

"Oi you lot, keep it down! We don't want to give off a bad image or give anything away!"

"Sorry, captain."

Everyone got off the bus and went into the stadium, which was packed full of various supporters, and we headed to our bench. I looked over for Kidou, who gave me a piercing stare followed by a smile, and Sakuma smiled too. Genda gave another general blank look. My team saw no need in stretching or warming up, as they thought the match wouldn't test them very much at all, after the hard and punishing sessions we'd all endured.

Aphrodi pulled me to one side, a sheltered little area away from our team and most of the ground, and spoke to me.

"I'm sorry if you think I've changed, I probably have, but it doesn't mean I like you any less. You've stuck by me, and I honestly have to thank you for that, which I will do today. I'll drink your God's Aqua too, so it's definitely gone. I don't know what it'll do to me, but I'll be fine and much stronger for it."

"I.. Thank you, thank you so much. I've really loved having you as a friend, I really have, but I don't think I can stay here anymore. If the manager is who I think it is, it's not safe for me, and we have to follow his every order, which I can't do, not against the people who've been so good to me, not against -"

"I understand. Promise you'll play, even just for a while. At least without you, I don't have to worry about hurting you if my personality changes again."

With that, he planted a single kiss on my lips, and grabbed my hand to walk with me onto the pitch.

Our goalkeeper, Poseidon, was the main cause of the riotous behaviour, said loudly, "So they finally came out as gay then?"

We gathered in the circle to take the drinks, and Aphrodi proceeded to drink two, so an empty tray returned to the manager. A note was read by the tray carrier, which asked for me and Aphrodi to see the manager immediately. He once again held my hand as we walked, as for me, there was certain impending doom.

"Welcome, Asteri and Aphrodi."

We bowed.

"Congratulations on getting this far; I hope you've enjoyed your extra help, and well done on leading the team so far, I'd like to reward you."

I had to remind myself to act the correct way.

"Grateful, sir." We chimed.

He turned to face us in his chair, and beckoned us forward. As we did, and the light fell on his face, my worst fear had come true. Kageyama. He must have purposely moved to follow me, after all he did recommend the school, but I did not see why, I still don't now, after all, Kidou was his prodigy who he put everything into, and he had always been at Teikokou... So why?

"Asteri, Aphrodi, I will call you by your real names for ease, Kazetani and Afuro. I would like to give you each an item to remind you of your status."

He lay a golden arrow badge with a heart at the end for Aphrodi, to symbolise the Goddess of Love, and a pale blue metallic wreath headband for me, each part in the shape of a puff of wind, for the God of Wind. We thanked him, and bowed once again.

"Any questions?"

Aphrodi looked at me.

"Yes, I do have a question sir. What would happen if someone were to leave the team, unexpectedly."

He rose from his seat, furious at such a question. "What is it you want from me, Kazetani? I've given you the best I can in football, but it's not good enough for you?" Kageyama spat. "You'll do what I tell you when I tell you, no questions asked. You'd really throw away your bright future all because of one friend?"

"It's not what I want, you gave me a family, which is all I ever wanted, and you never even asked me about any of this! I went along with it because it was just me, alone, but I made friends and I never agreed to use and hurt them. I can't put up with the control and restrictions you've put on me," I shouted, "Do what you want to me, but I'm leaving."

"Consider yourself finished. Dismissed."

I hurried out of the office with Aphrodi in tow, who said nothing on the way to the pitch.

"It's our last game together, then," he sighed, as we stood with the ball in the circle, ready to start, "let's make it a good one."

Seconds before the starting whistle, he kissed me again, and the team laughed and jeered, whilst Teikokou looked confused, and I noticed that Kidou turned away to 'talk' to Sakuma.

The first five minutes were evenly matched, until we were ordered to attack by Kageyama, from his office.

"Let's go!" I shouted to Aphrodi. He used his signature shot, whilst I chained this with mine, to create an entirely new shot. 1-0.

The aqua kicked in, and my teammates were enraged as they savagely scored 10 goals within the first ten minutes. They didn't spare the Teikokou team, fouling many of them and kicking balls purposely into their bodies. When I say they, I say it because I was too shocked to move due to their brutality, and I was helpless as I saw my former teammates lying injured on the ground. I was too busy running over to them all, trying to see that they were still breathing, and nobody knew if they could continue. I couldn't cope. I left the pitch. The match was immediately cancelled at half time, with the Zeus team leaving the pitch straight away. I didn't know Aphrodi anymore, he wasn't himself, and he knew. As I ran, I felt as if I had betrayed Teikokou, Aphrodi, and myself. I couldn't stop the injuries being done to the team, and I also went against Aphrodi and Zeus, but I felt that most of all, I had lost sight of my loyalties and got in a mess. I had allowed my friends to become injured, mentally and physically.

"Go, be as free as the wind urges you to be. Be as powerful as a hurricane... You're my right hand goddess," Aphrodi said softly, before his tone changed, "I want to see how strong you really are."

I ran. Out of the football ground, the school and towards my safe haven, the river bank. Sitting facing the water, I broke down in tears, alone in my well of sadness for at least fifteen minutes.I hadn't noticed the group of boys arrive behind me, and proceed to mess about with a football. Instinctively, I felt a ball was coming towards me so I spun and caught it, before kicking it back. They all stopped and stared at me for a few seconds, before continuing their game - the laughter and light-heartedness of it all made me feel even more isolated. What I didn't anticipate was for Ichirouta to arrive and begin playing along with the boys.

"That guy looks like you, it's really weird," one murmured.

An eye roll and a sigh from Ichirouta, "Why are you here?"

I did not respond, as the images of an hour before whizzed around my head.

"Kazetani?" his voice softened ever so slightly, "Come over here."

Hastily, I rose to my feet and wandered over to him and what I could now see were other Raimon boys. I had to tell him what happened… To a point.

"I got kicked out of Zeus. So I have no school and no friends as of now."

"Sist- Brother, you should have told me sooner," he coughed, "we'll sort it out when we get home - don't worry."

A smaller, brown haired boy with an orange headband spoke - how did I not realise it was Endou sooner!

"Why don't you join in with us? I see you have football kit." he grinned.

I nodded and began to play, and I actually felt better for doing so - these guys weren't so bad at playing, either. I'm not sure what it was I did to deserve their fresh positivity, but I knew I wanted in on it.

As me and my brother walked home, there was a stillness in the air, which I hadn't felt in a while, even though I felt slightly uneasy, because I knew questions were coming. It was for definite that I wanted to attend Raimon next; there was nowhere else to go anyway, plus I could use the excuse of ease as we could go together. I would only really have to worry about Kageyama and keeping my gender secret - which is probably easier said than done.